Surface release dye marker

ABSTRACT

An ascent-actuated dye marker includes a cylindrical body having an open end and containing a water soluble dyestuff and a coil spring. A watertight plug closes the open end of said cylindrical body against the ejective force of the spring. The plug is held in place by an external clip which is resiliently biased to a position away from and clear of said body means. The resilient clip engages a retaining structure on said plug and is released therefrom when said plug is pressed within the cylindrical body member by water pressure occasioned by the submergence of the dye marker.

United States Patent 11 1 Pickens Apr. 1, 1975 SURFACE RELEASE DYEMARKER [21] Appl. No.: 446,034

3,703,782 2/1971 Brown 116/124 B Primary Examiner- S. Clement SwisherAssistant ExaminerDenis E. Corr Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richard S.Sciascia; Ervin F. Johnston; William T. Skeer [57] ABSTRACT Anascent-actuated dye marker includes a cylindrical body having an openend and containing a water soluble dyestuff and a coil spring. Awatertight plug closes the open end of said cylindrical body against theejective force of the spring. The plug is held in place by an externalclip which is resiliently biased to a position away from and clear ofsaid body means. The resilient clip engages a retaining structure onsaid plug and is released therefrom when said plug is pressed within thecylindrical body member by water pressure occa' sioned by thesubmergence of the dye marker.

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENIEB R 1 ms FIG.4

SURFACE RELEASE IDYE MARKER STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST I Theinvention described herein may be manufac tured and used by or for theGovernment of the United States of America for governmental purposeswithout the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains generally to the fieldsof marine engineering and oceanographic instrumentation. Moreparticularly, this invention pertains to the recov cry of oceanographicinstrument packages from the ocean. In still greater particularity, theinvention pertains to a device for facilitating the recovery ofoceanographic instrument packages from the surface of the water whichwere released from the ocean depths. By way of further characterization,this invention pertains to a dye marker which will release a marking dyeinto the water at a predetermined shallow depth on ascent, havingremained closed and containing the dye material during descent throughthe same predetermined depth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In general, the marking of crash sites andother points of interest on the surface of the water by releasing dyematerials is a fairly well understood and developed area of technology.However, heretofore, such dye markers have been released from thesurface of airborne vehicles. Typical of such known arrangements arethose shown in US. Pat. Nos. 2,965,029 issued to L. D. Jackson on Dec.20, 1960 for Marine Marker, and 3,612,857 issued to David P. Beatty onOct. 12, 1971 for Location Marker for Producing Illuminious Display.Likewise, devices of the prior art are extant which provide for waterpressure release of optical markers. US. Pat. Nos. 2,803,838, issued toN. B. Wales, Jr. on Aug. 27, 1957 for Aircraft Crash Marking Device,"and 3,049,091, issued on Aug. 14, 1962 to R. J. Carroll et al. forRelease and Ejection Mechanism for Automatic Dye Marker System," arefairly characteristic of the known state-of-the-art for such releasemechanisms. In general, these release mechanisms automatically actuate adye marker release such that the location of aircraft wreckages or otherdevice may be facilitated without manual actuation from the device to bemarked.

It is also known to release marking dye solutions at great depthsunderwater to study the effects of ocean currents. Representative ofsuch an arrangement is that shown in US. Pat. No. 3,670,692 issued onJune 20, 1972 to David L. Jackson for Underwater Dye- Marker ReleaseMechanism. However, the release of a dye marker at the surface to markthe surface location of an object released from the ocean depths isremained a troublesome problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION container compressing the air bubble, the plugretaining clip is released to spring to a position free of plugengagement. Upon buoyant re-emergence the water pressure is removed fromthe plug, the plug returns to its original position and is expelled fromthe container by a means of a coiled spring contained therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 11 is a perspective view showingthe device of the invention mounted on a cylindrical container as asaddle;

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative mounting arrangement for the device ofthe invention in which it is bolted fast to a container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device of the invention prior tomounting; and

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section of the device of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I, the dyemarker of the invention, indicated generally at 11, is shown mounted bymeans of encircling clamps l2 and 13 on a cylindrical package 14.Package 14 may be any known oceanographic instrument package.Customarily, such packages are comprised of a central, cylindrical,metallic shell housing the various instruments and a concentric cylindermade of syntactic foam. This syntactic foam provides the necessarybuoyancy to return the oceanographic package to the surface but iscapable of withstanding the pressures of deep ocean submergence withoutstructural failure.

Referring to FIG. 2, an alternative mounting arrangement for dye marker11 is illustrated. In this arrangement, dye marker lll is bolted on theend of the metallic inner container 15 by means of threaded fasteners 16and 17 which secure a mounting strap 18 to the cover of the instrumentpackage. Of course, both the mounting shown in FIG. 1 and that shown inFIG. 2 may be used on the same package, if desired.

Referring to FIG. 3, an enlarged view of the dye marker, free of itsattached package and mounting hardware so as to provide a better view ofthe structural details, is shown. As seen, dye marker 1 1 has acylindrical body=member 22 and a longitudinal clip 23 having a generalJ-shape in which the shorter curved end engages a depression within theend of a cylindrical plug 24.

Body member 22 is assembled to mounting strap 18 by means of clamps 25and 27. It will be noted that clamp 25 also secures clip 23 to bodymember 22. Of course, if the bolted mounting arrangement of FIG. 2 isemployed, mounting strap 18 will be provided with holes at the endportions thereof to receive the threaded fasteners. Other attachmentarrangements may be employed, if desired, and in some developmentalmodels plastic adhesive tape has been used with good success.

To facilitate assembly and surface transport of the marker 11, a safetyretaining screw 28 is provided. Screw 28 passes through a hole in bodymember 22 and is threadably engaged by plug 24. Thus, plug 24 will notbe accidently dislodged from body member 22.

Body member 22 may be made of any convenient metal and, in developmentalmodels, satisfactory results have been obtained with using brass stockor tubing for this device. In such an arrangement, small length of brasstubing is sealed by means of a solderedon end plug, 29 better shown inFIG. 4, likewise, mounting strap 18 may also be made of brass.

Clamps and 27 are commercially available clamps made of stainless steeland designed primarily to provide compressional fit between resilienttubing and rigid internal fittings. Resilient clip 23 may be made ofspring steel or other resilient material. Plug 24, like a body member22, is also made of brass. Screw 28 is a commercially available steelscrew, since, as will be more fully explained, is not subjected to thesalt water environment.

Referring to FIG. 4, a longitudinal section of the dye marker of theinvention reveals the internal construction. As shown, clip 23 is in thereleased position to which it springs from its tensioned position whenplug 24 is driven within body member 22 by the external water pressure.A coil spring 31 is inserted into body member 22 and provides anejective force by compressional engagement by plug 24. A wick 32 is madeof any absorbent textile material and provides for a slow release of thedyestuff which is contained within body member 22. As shown, a bubble ofgas is permitted to exist within a body member 22 to provide forcompressibility such that end plug 24 may be forced within the bodymember 22. An O-ring type neoprene gasket 33 is contained in acircumferential groove extending about end plug 24 to assure that nodyestuff leaks from container 22 until release is intended.

The compressional strength of spring 31 determines the point at whichthe end plug 24 will be expelled from body member 22. This strength ischosen such that ejection will occur at about two fathoms depth. Thedepth of the depression in end of plug 24 and the length of cooperatingportion of clip 23 are dimensioned such that release of clip 23 from itstensioned or cap engaging position to its relaxed position, illustratedin FIG. 4, does not occur until a depth substantially below the intendedrelease depth has been obtained.

Obviously, other plug engagement constructions might be used, ifdesired. For example, plug 24 might carry a cylindrical stud to fitwithin a hole on an L- shaped clip. However, such an arrangement wouldhave to be proven as satisfactory as that shown which has proven 100%reliable in actual use.

The foregoing description, while sufficient to enable one versed in themarine engineering and oceanographic instrumentation arts, to make theinvention, will be better understood by reference to the following modeof operation.

MODE OF OPERATION The operation of the device commences with itsassembly in which body member 22, mounting strap 18, and clip 23 areassembled by tightening clamp 25. Spring 3] is then inserted within bodymember 22 along with wick 32. Then, suitable dyestuff is poured withincontainer 32. Any suitable material providing a surface marking may beused. However, in selection of materials, attention will, naturally, begiven to the impact on the marine enviroment and a suitable, nontoxic,biodegradable material will be employed.

Gasket 33 is then placed within the groove in plug 24 and the pluginserted within the body member 22. Plug 24 is depressed within the bodymember 22 and clip 23 tensioned to its latching position and plug 24released. Plug 24 is then rotated within body member 22 until thethreaded hole therein aligns with the hole in body member 22 and setscrew 28 is inserted.

The device is then attached to the instrument package by means of themounting strap 18 as illustrated in either or both FIGS. 1 and 2.

Prior to placement within the water, set screw 28 is removed. As theinstrument package is submerged, the water pressure forces the plug 24within body member 22 and the release of clip 23 occurs. When theinstrument package is released from the bottom, the ascent through areasof less pressure permit plug 24 to be moved by spring 31 and theexpanding air bubble toward the open end of, and finally out of bodymember 22 such that it comes free at the desired depth. Of course, thisopens body member 22 and the dyestuff contained therein and within wick32 is released.

If recovery of plug 24 is desired, it may be attached by a light lanyardto clip 25 or 27. Normally, no recovery is contemplated and the brassplug sinks.

The foregoing description taken together with the appended claimsconstitute a disclosure such as to enable one versed in theoceanographic instrumentation and marine engineering arts to make anduse the invention.

Further, the device meets the aforestated objects of the invention andconstitutes a meritorious advance in the art unobvious to such workersbenefit of these teachings.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings, and, it is thereforeunderstood that within the scope of the disclosed inventive concept, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described.

What is claimed is:

I. An ascent-actuated dye marker for locating the surface position of anobject released beneath the sea comprising:

a body member having a closed end and a cylindrical cavity communicatingwith one end thereof; cylindrical plug means slidably received withinthe cylindrical cavity for effecting a watertight seal with saidcylinder wall to thereby form a sealed compartment within said bodymember;

dye material contained within and partially filling said cavity;

resilient means located within said cylindrical cavity positioned toengage said plug means for urging said plug means out of saidcylindrical cavity;

clip means attached at one end to the outer surface of said body meanssaid clip means being made of resilient material and formed to have arelaxed position in which the other end of said clip means extends awayfrom said body member, said other end carrying a plug engaging portionfor providing a releasable retention of said plug within the cylindricalcavity of said body member when in a tensioned position alongside saidbody member; and

clip engaging means on the outer end of said plug means for engaging theother end of said clip means when the plug is at the outer end of thecylindrical cavity and the clip means is tensioned for releasing theplug means after it moves a predetermined distance within thecylindrical cavity, whereby the plug is held in place upon submergenceuntil water pressure overcomes the ejective urging of said resilientmeans forcing said plug within said cylindrical cavity such that saidclip assumes its relaxed position permitting said resilient means toexpel the plug to release the dye material when the submergence waterpressure is reduced.

2. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 further includingan elongate mounting strap attached to said body member and extendinglongitudinally beyond either end thereof for providing mountingattachment to facilitate securing said dye marker to the object.

3. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 further includingabsorbent wick means disposed in the cylindrical cavity of said bodymember for controlling the release of said dye material containedtherein.

4. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 in which said bodymember is of a cylindrical shape.

5. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 wherein said plugmeans includes:

a groove within the cylindrical wall of said plug means and extendingcircumferentially thereabout; and

a gasket fitted in said groove for cooperative engagement with the wallsof the cylindrical cavity of said body means for effecting a watertightseal between said cylindrical plug means and said body member.

6. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 further including:

a hole extending transversely through said body member to communicatewith the cylindrical cavity therein and located closely adjacent to theopen end thereof;

a threaded hole in the cylindrical wall of said cylindrical plug meansand extending radially a predetermined distance therein; and

a lock screw extending through said hole in the body member andthreadably received within said threaded hole in the cylindrical plugmeans.

7. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 in which saidresilient means is a coil spring configured to slidably fit within thecylindrical cavity of said body member and lie closely adjacent theinternal wall thereof.

8. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 in which said clipmeans is configured to be generally J-shaped such as that said other endthereof includes a bend having a short portion extending toward said oneend thereof.

9. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 in which said clipengaging means includes a cylindrical depression in the outer end ofsaid cylindrical plug means for receiving the other end of said clipmeans.

10. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 further includinga flexible clamp encircling said body member and the one end of saidclip means for providing a unitary mounting connection therebetween.

1. An ascent-actuated dye marker for locating the surface position of anobject released beneath the sea comprising: a body member having aclosed end and a cylindrical cavity communicating with one end thereof;cylindrical plug means slidably received within the cylindrical cavityfor effecting a watertight seal with said cylinder wall to thereby forma sealed compartment within said body member; dye material containedwithin and partially filling said cavity; resilient means located withinsaid cylindrical cavity positioned to engage said plug means for urgingsaid plug means out of said cylindrical cavity; clip means attached atone end to the outer surface of said body means said clip means beingmade of resilient material and formed to have a relaxed position inwhich the other end of said clip means extends away from said bodymember, said other end carrying a plug engaging portion for providing areleasable retention of said plug within the cylindrical cavity of saidbody member when in a tensioned position alongside said body member; andclip engaging means on the outer end of said plug means for engaging theother end of said clip means when the plug is at the outer end of thecylindrical cavity and the clip means is tensioned for releasing theplug means after it moves a predetermined distance within thecylindrical cavity, whereby the plug is held in place upon submergenceuntil water pressure overcomes the ejective urging of said resilientmeans forcing said plug within said cylindrical cavity such that saidclip assumes its relaxed position permitting said resilient means toexpel the plug to release the dye material when the submergence waterpressure is reduced.
 2. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim1 further including an elongate mounting strap attached to said bodymember and extending longitudinally beyond either end thereof forproviding mounting attachment to facilitate securing said dye marker tothe object.
 3. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1further including absorbent wick means disposed in the cylindricalcavity of said body member for controlling the release of said dyematerial contained therein.
 4. An ascent-actuated dye marker accordingto claim 1 in which said body member is of a cylindrical shape.
 5. Anascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 wherein said plug meansincludes: a groove within the cylindrical wall of said plug means andextending circumferentially thereabout; and a gasket fitted in saidgroove for cooperative engagement with the walls of the cylindricalcavity of said body means for effecting a watertight seal between saidcylindrical plug means and said body member.
 6. An ascent-actuated dyemarker according to claim 1 further including: a hole extendingtransversely through said body member to communicate with thecylindrical cavity therein and located closely adjacent to the open endthereof; a threaded hole in the cylindrical wall of said cylindricalplug means and extending radially a predetermined distance therein; anda lock screw extending through said hole in the body member andthrEadably received within said threaded hole in the cylindrical plugmeans.
 7. An ascent-actuated dye marker according to claim 1 in whichsaid resilient means is a coil spring configured to slidably fit withinthe cylindrical cavity of said body member and lie closely adjacent theinternal wall thereof.
 8. An ascent-actuated dye marker according toclaim 1 in which said clip means is configured to be generally J-shapedsuch as that said other end thereof includes a bend having a shortportion extending toward said one end thereof.
 9. An ascent-actuated dyemarker according to claim 1 in which said clip engaging means includes acylindrical depression in the outer end of said cylindrical plug meansfor receiving the other end of said clip means.
 10. An ascent-actuateddye marker according to claim 1 further including a flexible clampencircling said body member and the one end of said clip means forproviding a unitary mounting connection therebetween.